A blog about running
that has metamorphosed
into one about life in general.

Monday, June 21, 2010

Post Saturday Run Blues

After Saturday’s AREC run, I had to work my usual 12 hour shift from evening to morning and the exhaustion I mentioned carried over at my job. I felt so drained, that by midnight, I could barely stay awake. The next day my thigh muscles were sore (it’s Monday afternoon now as I post this and they are still sore). Kinda similar to post marathon soreness but not quite as bad. It felt as if I haven’t run in a long time and just started again. Well, duh! For someone who used to run every day for so many years, four days of not running is a long time. After that many days off then suddenly running 10.42 miles, of course my legs would be sore. At least my ankle joints didn’t fare so badly, so I hope I can resume my current three days a week running schedule. No matter how much cross training I do, it’s not a substitute for running. As I mentioned in a blog post last year explaining the training principle of specificity, you have to run to get in shape for running.

People probably wonder, since I mention that I have a permanent ankle tendon injury, why I keep on showing up at the Saturday morning runs. If the injury is so bad, why am I still running with them? It must not be as bad as I claim it to be, you might say. The truth is, it is really bad and I shouldn’t be running anymore, but I am just hanging in there, prolonging as much as possible what I love to do despite the pain. The permanent injury is on my right ankle, but in the past few weeks I’m feeling similar signs and symptoms with my left ankle, which is not good. If my left ankle goes, so goes the running.

This is the reason why I’ve been taking so many days off. With so many days off, my running conditioning suffers. That’s probably why I felt so flat and exhausted last Saturday. Maybe instead of taking extra days off, I should just reduce my running time to 30 to 40 minutes during the week instead of my usual hour. That way, I hope my ankles are not too battered, but I would still be able to maintain my running conditioning. I may try that this coming week and see what happens.

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About Me

I started writing this blog to chronicle my devastating running injury in October of 2008. It has since turned into something I didn't expect: stories and anecdotes about everyday life. On 7/26/11, I retitled this blog from noeldlp.blogspot.com to aboutlifeandrunning.blogspot.com. I remain permanently injured with PTTD on both ankles but I keep on trying to run nonetheless. I'm not sure if it's passion or insanity. You be the judge.